RON RIX
WESTFIELD – At last night’s Westfield School Committee meeting, Directory of Technology and Business Services Ronald Rix brought forward several items which required the transfers of funds, all of which were approved.
According to Rix, these transfers aren’t uncommon.
“It’s just procedural. Some things had the wrong budget codes, so we transferred some positions from schools to the department,” he said.
The reason these items were up for approval was because of their size.
“Anything over $15,000 needs school committee approval,” said Rix, adding that the circumstances which make this maneuvering possible differ year to year. “Last year, we had extra severance money and there was also a vocational position that went unfilled.”
The transfer requests made by Rix and approved by the committee totalled $525,720 and included $73,781 from the account WHS Math Supervisor into the District Math Supervisor account; $17,280 from North Middle School’s Speech Professional to South Middle School’s Speech Professional account; $28,454 from South Middle School’s Bilingual Paras to Westfield High School’s Bilingual Paras; $39,968 from part-time vocational Bilingual Paras to full- time vocational Bilingual Paras; $167,500 from in-state tuitions to instructional software; $34,128 from Special Education In-District Transportation to Special Education Summer Transportation; $21,500 from custodial supplies to the maintenance of buildings; $15,650 from security services to heating fuel; $19,149 from district severance to vocational severance; $53,310 from Westfield High School’s Reading/Language Supervisor to District Reading Supervisor; $29,000 for late bus transportation to McKinney Vento Transportation; and $26,000 from professional development substitutes to professional development payroll.
In addition, a state law which allows for transfers involving special education funds for the next fiscal year also prompted more transfers.
“We’re allowed to pay certain special ed tuitions in order to offset next year’s budget,” Rix clarified.
A transfer of $318,020 was approved to pre-pay several special education tuitions for the fiscal year 2015.
The accounts included long term substitutes ($80,000), out of grade ($61,490), substitute teachers ($50,000), WVTHS substitutes ($35,000), longevity ($17,500), along with $8,000 from overtime for WVTHS custodians, $7,000 from maintenance overtime, and $3,700 from para substitutes.
The $55,330 designated for a manufacturing teacher at Westfield Vocational Technical High School last year was also approved for transfer to the special education tuition.
